1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to product information tags for merchandise suspended from horizontally-extending support hooks, and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an elongated product identification and information tag of the type which is formed from a plastic sheet and which displays the product information forwardly of items suspended from a horizontally-extending hook.
2. Description of the Related Art
Product support hooks are commonly found in supermarkets, drug stores, and the like having a proximal portion engaged in, and carried by, a support such as an apertured board or the like, with the hook cantilevered in a horizontal direction to slidingly receive products or blister packs containing merchandise in a well known manner. Such product support hooks are commonly used with product information tags that include a mounting portion to be removably attached to the proximal end of the hook or directly to the support, with an integral intermediate portion projecting forwardly over the support hook and the supported merchandise, and an integral display portion extending downwardly from the distal end of the intermediate portion and in front of the hook to display desired product identification and information data to customers and/or store personnel for inventory and other such housekeeping operations.
Heretofore, the display portions of such forwardly extending product information tags carried adhesive or non-adhesive paper or plastic labels to provide purchasers with the unit price, promotional and nutritional information, and the like and, included bar codes or other inventory control information for the use of the store personnel. Such paper or plastic labels on the display portion of the product information tag were relatively light in weight enabling relatively thin product information tags to be utilized such as 0.015 to 0.020 inches in thickness. Rigidity and strength were provided by inclusion of longitudinally extending ribs, creases or bends generally three in number substantially parallel to each other. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,595; 4,715,135; 4,773,172; 4,882,868; 4,888,897; 4,987,692; 5,040,316; 5,235,766; 5,261,175; and 6,189,247.
Recently, electronic information carriers have been employed to provide product information. Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are generally integrated with the in-store processor (ISP) or a free-standing controller that communicates with file information supporting the store's point-of-sale program. The ESL system may include low-voltage communication electronics or communication base stations (CBS) located in store ceilings away from the store operations. The ESLs are positioned throughout the store to identify an item's retail price and other information of interest to the consumer or for use by the store's inventory system.
Price changes may be initiated through the store's controller which updates item price files. This information, which has an association to a particular product identified by item number or UPC code, is communicated to the CBS in the ceiling and transmitted via a high frequency radio signal to the corresponding ESL. The ESLs are programmed with differing addresses that are also associated with the item number or UPC code of the product they represent. Once the addressed device is found, the label display changes and reflects an acknowledgment back to the CBS to confirm that the transmission was received and enacted. This acknowledgment is then communicated back to the ISP to complete the transaction. These systems, such as produced by NCR under its DecisioNet™ trademark, allow the ESLs to be independent of wires and cables below the ceiling, which reduces installation time and cost. Since there are no wires or cables required from the ceiling down, the label is free to be positioned anywhere. When store shelf resets occur, ESLs move easily with the shelves.
These ESL units, however, much like paper labels, require a carrier device to facilitate supporting them at selected locations, usually on the front of a store merchandise shelf. Several carriers for electronic shelf labels have been developed, including the device seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,990, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference (the '990 patent). The '990 patent recognizes some of the problems associated with ESLs, with particular reference to adjusting the orientation of the carrier, and thus, the ESL, when it is secured directly to, for example, a C-channel at the front edge of a merchandise shelf or the like, to permit the viewer to more readily see the information, particularly if the electronic label is attached to a relatively low, or relatively high, shelf.
In co-pending application Ser. No. 10/448,049 filed May 30, 2003 (the '049 application), the subject matter of which is also incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, highly versatile carriers for ESLS, particularly adapted for supporting such elements at the front edge of a merchandise shelf to enable one or more of such devices to be positioned and repositioned in a simple and inexpensive manner, are disclosed which overcome many problems associated with the complexity and expense of the carrier of the '990 patent.
The ESL carriers of the '990 patent and the '049 application are not well adapted for supporting an ESL at the distal end of a forwardly-extending product information tag of the type discussed above where different requirements must be met. It is an ESL carrier formed on the display portion of an elongated forwardly-extending product identification and information tag with which the instant invention is concerned.